Australian party asks PM to take in Rohingya refugees

Sydney, Sep 11 (IANS) Australia’s Green Party on Monday said it has asked Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to take in 20,000 Rohingya refugees and earmark some $120 million for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“Senator Nick McKim and I have written to the Prime Minister over the crisis in Myanmar and the unprecedented levels of forcible displacement we are seeing,” Greens leader Richard di Natale posted on Facebook.

“We need 20,000 permanent humanitarian visas for Rohingya refugees this year and $150 million in emergency funding for the UNHCR.”

This petition comes after the exodus of almost 300,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority to Bangladesh since August 25, fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

The amount of humanitarian aid proposed by the Green Party exceeds what was announced by the Australian government.

On Saturday, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the government will contribute up to $4 million to humanitarian aid organisations working in Bangladesh.

More than a million Rohingyas live in Rakhine, where they face growing discrimination following a sectarian conflict in 2012 that killed at least 160 people, and displaced nearly 120,000.

Myanmar authorities deny citizenship to Rohingyas, classifying them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and imposing many restrictions on them, including limits to their freedom of movement.